1865.] OBITUARY — CAPT. GILLISS. 135 



anterior to eye cup, 7 inches ; from frontal extreme to commence- 

 ment of dorsal, 24 inches 2 lines ; from frontal extreme to posterior 

 edge of opercle, 10 inches ; from pectorals to ventrals, 4 inches 7 

 lines ; from ventrals to anal, 8 inches 8 lines ; from anal to caudal, 

 4 inches 1 line ; breadth at fifteen inches from frontal extreme, 1 

 inch 7h lines ; over pectorals, 1 inch ; over dorsal, 1 inch 2 lines ; 

 over caudal base, 4 lines; vertical base of caudal extreme, 3J lines ; 

 width of mouth over base of snout, 5 lines. 



Head : — Width over eyes, 8 lines ; vertical depth over eyes, 9 

 lines. Two bony processes at anterior occipital angle of eye cup. 



Mouth : — Vertical gape, 1 inch ; horizontal gape, *l\ lines ; 

 armed with small teeth on vomer and jaws ; lower jaw 2 lines in 

 advance of upper. 



Eyes : — Lateral diameter, 10 lines : vertical diameter, 5 lines. 



Fins: — Pectoral; diameter at base, 7J lines. Dorsal ; diameter 

 at base, 1 inch 2J- lines. Ventrals ; extent, 9 lines ; diameter at 

 base, 3 lines. Anal ; diameter at base, 1 inch 2J lines. Caudal ; 

 extent, 1 inch 7A- lines ; caudal filament broken off 1 inch 7J- lines 

 from base. 



Color: — Above, reddish brown; beneath, cupreous, longitudi- 

 nally lined with white. — Communicated by the Natural History 

 Society of \_St. John] New Brunswick. 



OBITUARY NOTICES. 



Capt. James M. Gilliss, U. S. N. — Captain Gilliss, the Super- 

 intendent of the Washington Observatory, died suddenly, at Wash- 

 ington, of apoplexy, on Thursday, the 9th of February. The 

 Naval Observatory, under his charge at the time of his death, was 

 constructed from his plans, and equipped with its original instru- 

 ments by him, during the years 1843-44, Congress having au- 

 thorized its establishment by an Act passed in 1842 ; but only since 

 1861, when Maury, faithless to his country, left his post of duty, 

 has it been under his abler direction. It would have been better 

 for the scientific reputation of the country had it continued in his 

 hands. An earlier observatory at Washington fitted up mainly by 

 him, had been the scene of his labors from 1838 to 1842, and in 

 the volume containing the results — the first volume of American 

 Astronomical Observations — Mr. Gilliss expresses in his Preface, 

 his pleasure that " the prosecution of these observations should 



